1/24/13

This is going to be my last post until after the cruise. We're flying out tomorrow, headed for Orlando, Florida. Finally, I'm getting out of the snow and cold! YAY! I've been pretty busy preparing for the trip, which is why I haven't blogged much lately. I have been knitting when I have free time because I decided I MUST wear the chevron sweater on my vacation. Last night I finished it. I tried it on with great trepidation. Would it fit? Would I like it? Well, I need not have worried. It fits perfect and I LOVE it!

Comments: I love the pattern. It was pleasant to knit, well written too. I had to enlarge it because it only goes up to size L. I was worried the fabric might be heavier than I would be comfortable in because it's garter stitch chevron, but it is very comfortable.

The Incanto yarn is very hard to work with. It has a shiny strand of Rayon wound around the yarn that likes to unwind, split, and fuzz if you look at it cross eyes. But I persevered because I love the colorway. It also has little sharp bits of plastic caught in the plies every so often. I stopped and pulled them out, though I'm sure I missed a few. All in all, not really a very good quality yarn. I hope it wears better. I won't be using it again. In fact, I've already given the leftovers away.

The Berroco Comfort is very nice to knit with. It has a nice hand to it. It's several very thin strands plied loosely together. When I crocheted the neckline though, it was a bear to use. It constantly wanted to split. I would not crochet anything big with this yarn.

The neckline has a row of crochet to finish it. The pattern calls for single crochet, but I decided to do one sc, one hdc, one dc, one trbl, then reverse that so the scallops would fill up making the edge smooth. Not my best crochet job certainly, but good enough.

Front neckline

I also single crocheted around the sleeve edges. The sleeves have an interesting construction that I've not done before.

Sleeve edge

You pick up stitches along the armholes, knit a few rows straight, then do several rows of short rowing that creates a wonderful curved cap sleeve. I really like how it fits.

Front of sweater

It's in the dryer (on low) now so I will be wearing it tomorrow.

I got one sleeve done on the baby cardigan.

That will be it until I get back. I'm not taking this project with me. For travel knitting, I've packed some Cascade Superwash Sport for a sweater I'm going to make for my son-in-law. I love the feel of this yarn. It's every bit as soft as cashmere. I'm looking forward to working with it.

The pattern is from Drops Designs web site. I have chosen Mocha Brown for the main color. Cream for the second color, Extra Creme Cafe for color three, and Lemon for color 4. I am going to substitute octopus for the deer. I've found an awesome chart that is free on Ravelry that I will incorporate so I won't have to draw one myself. I plan to cast on this evening to calm my brain because I am so excited, and nervous.

I've also packed a bit of sock yarn and needles to make a couple pair of baby socks. I doubt I'll get to them, but I don't want to get bored. Heh heh. Bored on a cruise to the Bahamas? I think not.

Today a package arrived in the mail. I ordered this a few days ago.

It's a ChiaoGoo interchangeable needle set. I liked the one I got my daughter for Christmas so much I decided to get one for me. I like the points. They are nice and sharp, and the cables are wire coated with nylon. Very flexible but not flimsy. The join between the needles and cables is very smooth. I used one on the baby sweater sleeve at the Yarnies meeting this morning and I love knitting with them. They are very nice needles.

So, that is the news for now. Try to keep yourselves out of trouble while I'm gone. I will try to post while on my trip, but I'm not taking my laptop so I don't know if I will be able to or not. There's supposed to be a computer room on the ship we can use. If so, I'll post. If not, well, you'll hear from me when I get back after the 5th of February.

1/18/13

Outside my window...
Its dark. I can see the front half of a lighted deer Christmas decoration. Only the front half because the back half isn't working for some reason. Probably a loose bulb. I haven't been motivated enough to fix it yet now that Christmas is over.

I am thinking...
about the cruise a lot. We're leaving end of next week. I've got the packing planning going on in my head.

I am thankful for...
our furnace. It is keeping me warm during this frigid period of winter.

From the kitchen...
delicious smells. I put a corned beef brisket in the crockpot this morning. Luvin' it!

I am wearing...
a striped t-shirt and black knit pants. Comfy wear for doing housework-which is what I did today.

I am creating...
a baby sweater sleeve. It's about 3 inches long. I have also figured out the alterations needed to make the sleeves for the chevron sweater. I'm planning on knitting them this weekend.

I am going...
on a cruise to the Bahamas! I can hardly wait. I didnt' really start getting excited until earlier this week when I did our online check-in and printed out the boarding passes and whatnot. Suddenly it hit me. Oh my goodness! I'm going to the Bahamas!

Around the house...
I started a big project today. I've had piles of beading and knitting patterns I have printed out from the internet sitting on the dining room table. I'm finally getting them sorted and put in 3 ring binders. I'm a third of the way through the piles.

One of my favorite things...
Cruises on big ships going to tropical places.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Gonna knit those chevron sleeves, pack my bags, and get ready to go.

1/16/13

Next is the sleeves. Hmm, I have sleeves of 2 sweaters to do now. They're starting to pile up.

We had some sunshine today. Cable was enjoying it while out in the front yard laying in the snow chewing on her new bone. In her opinion, the only proper way to chew a bone is while laying in the snow.

Silly dog.

One more thing. I took new pics of the Treads mitts. I like these much better.

1/14/13

I'll be so glad when spring comes and it's not so darn dark around here anymore and I can go outside to take my pictures. I knit a pair of fingerless mitts. They are a birthday present for my son-in-law.

Comments: I love the look of these mitts. I made this pattern for my daughter last summer so I'm familiar with it. The pattern isn't quite large enough, as written, for Franks manly hands and I didn't want any fingers, so I've made some adjustments:

Cast on 3 sts for thumb so there are 20 sts. Knit 6 rounds stockinette, then 5 rounds of 1x1 rib. Bind off.

It's hard to see the stitch pattern in the pictures, but it shows up well in real life even though the yarn is black.

That is what I did this weekend, pretty much. That and watched movies. It was so cold out. Temperatures have ranged from a low of 4 to a high of 22. It was too cold to do things outside. I hope it gets a little warmer soon.

We watched movies with our new Roku. It's a device you hook up to your tv to download/stream movies and whatnot. It works very well. We have access to Amazon Video, Hulu, Netflix, and a dozen other video services now. On Saturday we had a Mission Impossible 1st Season marathon while I puttered and knitted. That's the original tv show, not the Tom Cruise movies.

Sunday it was random movies, though sweet hubby and I did take a trip into Best Buy in Spokane Valley to look at home theater receivers. Ours needs to be upgraded cuz there's no place in our current one to plug in the Roku. Consequently, we can't use the sound system with it. We came home receiver-less because we didn't actually know specifically what we needed or wanted and needed to think about it. Electronics have become so incredibly complicated now. It was a little bit overwhelming for me. Now we do know and a proper decision can be made. A receiver has been ordered and should be here later this week.

Last Thursday I went to Visionworks and got my eyes checked out by their optometrist. I got some decidedly bad news. I have cataracts. Joy joy. The optometrist says they are slow growing so it will be a long time before I need surgery. Anyway, I've ordered new glasses with a decidedly stronger new prescription and hopefully they'll get here before we leave on our cruise. I was surprised when the optometrist told me how much my prescription had changed. I didn't think I would need one. She showed be the difference between my current prescription and the new one. Oh yeah, I need the new one.

I'm thinking about what I want to bead. I don't really have a project in mind at the moment. But I'm feeling a sort of panic to bead before I go completely blind. I'm over reacting emotionally, but I will calm down in a few weeks. This months challenge in the Seadbeadersters group is bitty beads done in odd count peyote. I want to make them. The pattern graphs our group leader has made are so cute. I need ideas on what I can do with them after I've made them. Must come up with something clever.

1/9/13

I'm sharing 3 projects today. The pictures are terrible because it's been a dark and dreary day so there is no good light around here. But I shall post them anyway.

First, I've finished the front of the Chevron sweater, and I've put together the shoulder seams. Next comes the sleeves, which are picked up and knit top down.

This is where I am on the silver flossy shrug.

I do not have enough of the silver fur for what's in my minds eye. I've looked in all the yarn boxes for Knit Wits and there is no more silver. So I'm gonna be taking this out and doing something else.

I have started a baby cardigan. I've been wanting to make this every since I saw the pattern early last year.

I'm knitting from the top down. I've finished the yoke/shoulder section, have put the sleeve sts on holders, and I'm now working on the stockinette stitch body. The yarns are actually a rather nice pale aqua blue and a creamy white.

My glasses have broken again, in the same place as before-the spring in the hinge has broken. This is the third time. I'm not getting them repaired. I'm getting new ones. I have an appointment tomorrow with the optometrist and whatnot. We're leaving on our cruise in just over 2 weeks. I hope they can get the new ones in time. I've been told they can. We'll see what happens. In the meantime, I'm wearing the old ones again. I'm nervous though. They have the same kind of spring type hinge. I hope they don't break before I get the new ones or it'll be duct tape time for me.

We got whomped with snow on Sunday night and Monday. Got about 15 inches of it! Spent all Monday and the next day digging out. Then last night it started warming up and turned to rain. Today it rained pretty much all day and was in the 40's for the days temps. I was able to get the ice off the back steps finally. It had gotten pretty thick and difficult to walk on.

1/5/13

Haven't done a Caturday in ages. I actually got the kitties to sit still for a moment so I could take pictures. They all had just settled down to take the afternoon nap.

Cashmere with his beautiful pink nose. He stretched out on one half of the couch.

He wheezes and snores a lot when he's asleep because of his sinus problems. Doesn't seem to bother him though.

Merino decided a blanket on the floor was good, right next to Cables bed.

Merino has developed an interesting trait. I think it's from hanging around the dog. He loves Cable and sees her as his Mommy these days. He'll let her give him a thorough cleaning with her tongue (yuk!). Anyway, he now will grab food you hand to him and run off with it. I've never seen a cat do that. Usually if I want to hand them a tidbit I end up dropping it on the floor where they sniff it and, if interested, proceed to eat it. Not Merino. No sirree. He grabs it and runs around with it in his mouth giving it a complete tour of the house. Then he'll hide somewhere and eat it. I expect when he finally figures out the doggy door, he'll be taking his treats outside to eat in the back yard like Cable does.

Chenille took the other end of the couch snuggling in with blankets.

She spends 5-6 hours every afternoon sleeping in a blanket nest on the couch. It's her way of dealing with the depressing winter I guess. It's better than sitting on the window sill grumpily glaring at the snow and taking swipes at us with her claws extended as we walk by.

I'm working on the chevron sweater. I'm up to the front neck opening now and knitting up one side of it. I'm starting to get excited. I'm really gonna finish this thing!

I started a shrug for Knit Wits in silver fur, but I don't know if I have enough yarn (no yardage info on the labels), so I'm waiting until I know for sure before I take pictures. If I don't have enough yarn, I'll be frogging and changing my plans.

We had sunshine on Wednesday. It was freaking cold, but it sure was nice to see the sun and blue sky. It was downright pretty out with all the trees on the mountains covered in snow. We delivered our mittens, hats, and scarves we made this past month to the Knit Wits meeting. Everyone had huge piles to bring in. We had more than enough for the emergency request we got last month. I am so proud of our group.

On Thursday Ruth and I went to Yarnies in the morning. I worked on the Chevron sweater during the meeting. Afterwards we had lunch (Taco Bell). I had a blood test scheduled for 2pm. We had a few minutes to kill after lunch before the appointment so we popped into Biglots. They had NEW yarn in stock. Tons of it for $1-3 a skein. Mostly fingering weight acrylic baby yarn and funky novelty yarns. The baby yarn is in 113oz skeins, pretty pastel colors, and were only 2 bucks each. I bought 20 skeins for Knit Wits. Then we headed over to the clinic for my blood test. While there I thought about how good that yarn deal was, and how low on yarn Knit Wits is right now. I checked the balance in the bank account-it's pretty good- and decided to go back afterward and get more. I bought 20 more skeins-making a total of 40. It's probably good that I don't run into good deals like that very often. We'd probably go bankrupt.

Comments: I tried to make a peplum below the waist, but didn't increase enough stitches.Note to self: Double the number of stitches next time. However, I really like what I ended up with. It gives it a nice feminine look.

Comments: Nice classic pattern. Knits up quickly, fits fairly good. I did change the decreases. I don't think the author of this particular version is familiar with slanting decreases in opposite directions, so she has just 'Knit 2 together through back loops'. I used Knit 2 together to slant half the decreases the other way so the instep doesn't look funny.

Comments: I love these mittens. I mean, I really love them! I just made up the stitch pattern on a whim, which is very simple and is probably in some stitch pattern book somewhere with an official name.

Comments: I altered the pattern some to make them larger (mens large). I cast on 48 sts and knit the hand above the thumb gusset until a total of 9 inches from the cast on edge. Total finished length is 11 inches. I also knit 18 rows on thumb before decreases. I am going to enter these in the fair this year.

Comments: I knit these mitts while participating in the Underappreciated KAL in the Fingerless Mitts Fanatics group on Ravelry. I chose this pattern because it had no projects. It's really very pretty.

Comments: I altered the pattern some by just doing stockinette stitch and to make it fit a large mans hand. I added two inches between the top of the thumb gusset and the top shaping (to 10 inches from cuff edge instead of 8 inches). I added 4 rows to the thumb length too.

Comments: I absolutely love the yarn I used to make this dress. It's made of Sugar Cane. It's so soft and has wonderful drape. Perfect for dress knitting. I've put 4 snaps in the back opening and edged the neck, sleeves, and hem with 1x1 rib.

Comments: I love how this turned out! Wasn't easy designing a way to use that bulky yarn on a garment that is 8 sts to the inch. Lets just say I used slip stitch. There are 3 snaps in the back opening.

Comments: I altered the pattern some. Did my own thing for the thumb gusset. This is one of the yarns I found at BigLots!.The yarn is difficult to work with because the red/brown is a strand of boucle' that likes to get caught on the needle tips, but other than that, I like it very much. It's soft and warm, and machine washable. Can't argue with that.

Comments: I was relieved that it fit the doll when it was done. I do not care for the shaping in the back. I'm mystified as to why it was done that way. It's cute though. I put snaps in the back opening, then sewed tiny little antique pearl buttons on top for decoration.

Comments: I made these with the intent to give them to Knitwits, but my brother-in-law, Dale, liked them so much I gave them to him instead. The above pic was taken with my phone, before blocking. Well, blocking never happened cuz Dale took them before I could do it. It's nice to have my knitting appreciated.

Adjustments: I used only 2 colors in the yoke. I reversed them, starting with color1. Instructions say to knit 13 cm of stockinette after the 2-color section. I knit until total piece length from cast on was 11 inches. I also knit the front bands on separate by picking up 65 sts along the edge.

Comments: I made this for Knitwits. I love love LOVE how it turned out! How cute! I love the black yarn. It's very nice to work with, but the In the Loop Sport is a horrible yarn. I wouldn't recommend it for anything you want to last for awhile or be an heirloom. It has so many thick spots and little pills all over it.

Adjustments: I used only 2 colors in the yoke. I reversed them, starting with color1. Instructions say to knit 13 cm of stockinette after the 2-color section. I knit until total piece length from cast on was 11 inches. I also knit the front bands on separate by picking up 65 sts along the edge.

Comments: Was a very fun knit. The yarn is not the best quality though. Definitely mill end stuff. It was only 2 bucks for a 4 oz. skein. You get what you pay for.

Comments: I love the pattern. It was pleasant to knit, well written too. I had to enlarge it because it only goes up to size L. I was worried the fabric might be heavier than I would be comfortable in because it's garter stitch chevron, but it is very comfortable.

Comments: I love the look of these mitts. I made this pattern for my daughter last summerso I'm familiar with it. The pattern isn't quite large enough, as written, for Franks manly hands and I didn't want any fingers, so I've made some adjustments: